“PUSHING water around a puddle” is how the former top diplomat in Afghanistan and Pakistan told the Hay Festival how he sees Britain’s involvement there.

Sherard Cowper Coles told the audience the military action in Afghanistan was like “cubbing” where a fox hunt went out early in the season to scatter the younger animals to improve the sport.

Coles, interviewed by Anne Robinson, said: “If the politicians and civil servants don’t do what they all know they must do and cap military determination with political effort it will all be for naught.”

His book, Cables from Kabul, is a damning indictment of political inaction but he said that he thought things were now changing and the leaders in the UK and US at last realised that they had to talk to the Taliban. But it should have happened years ago, he added.

“Only in the last few months have the CIA started to look for people in the Taliban to talk to,” he said.

“They understand now that killing Taliban is not the answer. We have to bring them in. That was my main legacy – we did get that going. Now we should stop going out to kill Taliban and say we will only fight if we are attacked.”